rolo11

Hi all!

First, I wanted to say I'm impressed by the community here. Seems like everyone's polite and helpful, minimal trolling, responsible moderators, and the posts are organized and intuitive. Last forum I was part of was Mazdaspeed, and it was basically just a pile of text vomit.

Regarding the thread title: in 2009 I made my first grown-up financed dealership purchase of my first MT car, a cherry 1-owner RSX-S. I had it about 3-weeks--long enough to learn to drive stick, install a SRI, and really fall in love with the car--before I hydroplaned it into the highway center barrier, tripped the passenger side curtain airbag, and totaled it. I've always been a car enthusiast, and even in lean times of driving pedestrian commuter cars I've tried to make them the best they can be with simple mods and care.

Fast forward to today: I just traded in my mint '10 LS3 Camaro 2SS for a '07 TL-S. Sad to see the Camaro go, but 95% of my driving is on surface streets, and hitting 40mph partway through 2nd gear wasn't fun enough to justify the poor street manners and gas mileage. I always liked the 3rd gen TL-S, so when I found a blue '07 with 99k miles, I knew it was time to make the switch. I've had the car a week now, and I love it. It's quiet and comfy, has good manners on both the street and the highway, and it feels zippy and light compared to the running back-esque Camaro.

All is not perfect, as you'd expect with a 12 year old car. It needs new console lights and a new Bluetooth module, which I'm hoping will fix the phone controls and microphone but I haven't read enough on that yet. My biggest issue right now is that some ricer along the way put on 19" wheels not spec'd for the car and used 1/2" spacers to clear the front rotors, so I'm only getting about 3 turns on my lug nuts. I'm actively looking for new wheels and tires, and should hopefully have some on order this week. Otherwise, the engine runs smooth, I don't see any apparent leaks, and the transmission shifts smoothly at the right points (although it feels a little mushy).

When I google things about the car, this forum is always one of the first results, and after a week of lurking I figured it was worth it to join. I've gotten some good info on mods, common issues, and surprise features here. Looking forward to more info, and meeting fellow enthusiasts in the Dallas area (if you can coax me out of my apartment). Salud!

LoveMyTL-S

Nice intro. Always glad to see another new TL member. Especially a Type-S Thanks for the compliments about the forum. We do our best to make this place the best Acura forum on the planet.
I started out on this forum with an 04 TSX and shortly moved up to a 08 WDP TL-S. I am now on my 2nd TL-S. It's been a great journey. Hope yours will be also.
Welcome to the Zine!

hondeducation

wow, you got the kinetic blue pearl tl type s?! congrats to you man! those are rare to find these days. still one of my favorite cars and colors. take good care of it, and welcome!

rolo11

Yes I did. Changing cars was kind of spur of the moment, I thought this one looked sharp, so I went and picked it up. The GM (granted, still a salesman) then told me he was a TL man and that I did really well getting a Kinetic Blue Type-S, and so far I haven't seen any others on the road. It's more tame than other cars I've owned, but I've come to enjoy smooth power delivery, comfort, and quiet, and I still get a thrill when I walk up and look at it!

Got my new wheel and tire setup. Went from heavy 19 x 8.5 RO Wheels (???) and 235-35 Kenda tires to 17 x 9 Konig Ampliforms and 245-45 Nitto summer tires, and am REALLY happy so far. The ride is quieter and softer, and it feels less top heavy and more planted. Plus it looks a lot meaner and less spindly IMO. Before/after pic below.

After lurking awhile I'm wondering if the cost/benefit makes it worth modding, and if I can be a grownup and leave it alone. But I'm an engineer--if it ain't broke, it hasn't been engineered enough yet >. Plus, as others have said, the tone is way too quiet for the look of the car. The big questions are HFPCs or J-pipe first, and will I regret cutting the resonator off my intake until I'm ready to go aftermarket?

hondeducation

i dont think your camera does your car justice though haha. the wheels are nice though.

for mods.... maybe get rid of the mid muffler and see how you like the sound. cheap and easy mod, and it'll make your car sound like a g35 sorta. that's if you like the way a g35 sounds haha

rolo11

They were just quick snaps. The car does look a lot sharper in person. At some point maybe I'll take the extra 30 seconds to get a decent pic...
After some light reading, sounds like the mid muffler delete is the way to go. Any ideas how that would sound with an intake resonator delete? Anything I could find in reference to resonator is talking about exhaust, which even before reading I thought sounded like a bad idea.